Upcoming Events

Do you like burgers and beats? Of course you do. You're a red-blooded Houstonian. It just so happens that Stanton's City Bites (1420 Edwards) is hosting a Beats and Eats party on Saturday afternoon from noon to 7 p.m. Live music by BBC, Karina Nistal, Mr. Castillo and more will keep the party going while you sample free food from one of the city's best burger joints.

If beer is more your bag, you'll want to catch the Winter Seasonal Beer Tasting on Saturday at Block 7 Wine Company (720 Shepherd), where you can sample eight different holiday beers including Bernardus Christmas Ale, Delerium Noel, DeTroch Chapeau X'mas Gueuze and St. Feuillen Cuvee Noel (those crazy Belgians and their Christmas beers...) for only $5. The tasting starts at 2 p.m. and runs unil 5 p.m.

After that winds down, head over to Avant Garden (411 Westheimer) for Absinthe: Revealed, a tasting and lecture that we told you about back in November, that starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the lecture and tasting party afterwards, or just $15 for the party itself. RSVPs are required, so make them now and come hang out with us while we learn all about the truths and rumors around the Green Fairy.

And on Sunday, take a trip OTL to the 1st Annual WineStyles Gumbo Cookoff benefiting Toys for Tots. It kicks off at noon at WineStyles (12361 Barker Cypress) and runs until 5 p.m. The price of admission? One new unwrapped toy -- or $15 -- per person, but isn't it more fun to bring a toy? We think so. Admission includes live music by the Zydeco Dots (really, what would a Cajun celebration be without them?), a drink ticket and a sample of each competing team's gumbo.